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Thu, 27 Aug 2015 01:35:36 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.3Wordless Wednesday – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/26/wordless-wednesday-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/26/wordless-wednesday-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/#commentsThu, 27 Aug 2015 01:35:36 +0000http://www.thehwl.com/?p=854Every year my Sister-in-Law's family throws an event called "In-Laws and Out-laws," which takes place out in the high desert of Western Town, Oregon. This year the theme was "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".

The Heart of Western Town – Our camping spot this year was inside the church

The Cooking Competition: May the best Hot Dog Win! – My Father-in-Law earned the trophy this year with his Japanese inspired hot dogs, featuring seaweed!

“The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” Triple Threat Pairing: A food, a drink, and a song – Ours (not pictured) featured Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cole Slaw (The Ugly), Crowne Washington Apple (The Good), and Whip/nae nae (The Bad)

Photo Credit: My Sister-in-Law Anna D.

The Smyths Do Western Town – Jensen enjoyed his first In-Laws and Out-Laws experience!

]]>http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/26/wordless-wednesday-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/feed/3The Ugly Truth About Moms Who Bullyhttp://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/18/moms-who-bully/
http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/18/moms-who-bully/#commentsTue, 18 Aug 2015 19:28:10 +0000http://www.thehwl.com/?p=819Motherhood is rough, and not just because being a mom itself, is a tough job - even though it is. It really really is! - but also because you have to deal with other moms...Some moms are wonderful. They lift you up, they support, they give you the knowing "I've been there, I survived, You can do this" encouraging look. And then there are the other moms. The moms who bully.

Motherhood is rough, and not just because being a mom itself is a tough job – even though it is…it really really is! – but also because you have to deal with other moms…

Lately I’ve been reflecting on what a friend wrote the other day on Facebook – which is that she’s continually amazed by the bonds of motherhood. It’s true – when you have your first child, you suddenly get initiated into this secret little club that you never knew existed before. You may have thought you were prepared, you may have planned and hoped and prayed for that moment, but until it happens, you just have no earthly idea what it’s truly about. Suddenly, your perspective and focus in life completely changes, and here you are. You’re a mother. You start to become closer to people you maybe weren’t so close to before. You start to drift away from some of your best friends, because they just don’t understand what your new life is all about.

Before Jensen was born, I was close with my friend Sierra – we’ve been best friends since we were 11 and we’d been through EVERYTHING together. Even though she lives in California and I live in Oregon, we still stayed close. It’s one of those friendships, you know – you don’t have to see each other or even talk to each other every day, to know that you’re family at heart. But we were also in completely different places in our life for quite a while. I was just getting married. She was having her second child. Now that I have my little boy, though, it’s amazing. I can text her, message her, call her, and we can relate. We’re in the same phase of life, and it’s such a comfort to know that there’s someone on the other end of the line who just gets it, no questions asked. We’re even closer than we were before, and it breaks my heart that we can’t just hop in the car, throw our kids in the backseat, and play together all day like we did back when we were teenagers.

Sierra and I at my baby shower in February

On becoming pregnant, I joined a “bump group” on Facebook, full of other mothers who were all due around the same time Jensen was. It was a great community to be a part of. You’re with a group of moms who are all going through the same thing you are during pregnancy. You can complain and commiserate and share in your joy, all together. Once your babies come, they all start to hit their milestones around roughly the same period of time. Through this group, I learned things about teething, about wonder weeks and leaps, growth spurts, sleep regression – and found the answers for just about every question I’ve had so far as a new mom. “Why is my kid crying at 12 weeks?” Oh, because he’s hitting a leap. I learned all sorts of things that I never knew, and received support on days when I thought I was going to lose my mind.

It’s been a great resource. It’s also been a great place for friendship.

As moms we’re often isolated in our homes – if you’re a stay at home mom, you’re not always able to have conversations with other adults, or even people who can form full sentences, throughout the day. If you’re a mom who works, you’re at work during the day, and when you’re not at work you’re home with your kids. Either way, your social life kind of tends to go straight out the window. And what social life you do have is usually always centered around your children – sorry, we can’t go out for drinks, would you like to meet at the park instead? Sometimes it’s just nice to know that there are other moms on the opposite end of that screen that you can reach out to, and who will understand you.

So it’s true, the bond of motherhood is one that can really bring people together. And sometimes it really is amazing.

On the other hand, I’ve also come face to face with an unfortunate fact. Motherhood brings with it the kind of drama that you haven’t experienced since high school. I’m not immune to it. There are certain things that I see other moms do that makes me cringe. It makes me so uncomfortable I just want to run in the opposite direction. I want to scream, ‘YOU’RE A MOM, PLEASE ACT LIKE ONE!’ In some ways, I’ve become even more intolerant of other people’s parenting styles than I would really like to admit. Part of that comes with the territory. Once you’re a mother, you think about mothering. You think about how to raise your child to become a responsible member of society. You’re not just raising a little girl or little boy – you’re raising the woman or man that they will become.

But there is a way to handle those situations with tact. You can choose not to hang out with certain people – politely. You can share parenting articles and have mature discussions about your choices, and maybe change a few minds, or change your own.

However, some moms in these groups are not only judgmental, but catty, and snide. For a large group of women, life and motherhood is one big popularity contest. And it’s kinda sad. It’s sad because – for one – we’re just playing into that stereotype of women. You know that stereotype that you can’t get a bunch of women all together in a room without someone pitching a fit? And I really don’t like that. As adults, we should act like adults.

It’s sad because there are some people who truly believe that if someone is good, we have to be better, or else we’ll be worse. Where does that idea even come from?? Why can’t we all just BE? We should be secure enough in ourselves that we should be able to support each other. We should be able to lift someone else up, without feeling like that makes us less of a person, ourselves.

It’s sad, because by hurting these mothers, we are hurting their children – by depriving them of parents who are confident in their abilities.

I have never been so disappointed, so appalled, in my life, as I was the other day, watching GROWN WOMEN screen shot conversations and share them with each other to laugh at. To point fingers. To talk shit. To bash and belittle. And not just in their own little group, either. Like a lynch mob, they took over a personal Facebook post in order to say some of the rudest, most awful things to someone that I have ever seen. All for absolutely NO reason. Somehow, a nice young woman was deemed “weaker,” and they were the “strong.” But you know what? There’s no strength behind moms who bully. Because that’s exactly what it is – bullying. And I can’t stand for it. Treating someone like shit is actually one of the easiest things to do. Do you know what real strength is? Standing up for the truth. Treating people kindly no matter who they are.

We should be able to ask for advice without fear of judgment or retribution. As moms, we have enough to be worried about, we shouldn’t have to be worried about the mom mobs. The petty little cliques. And yet they exist. Whether you breastfeed, or formula feed, whether you circumcise or don’t. Whether you vaccinate, or not. Whether you co-sleep or you baby sleeps through the night in his or her bassinet. There are so many different choices to make, and it’s really kind of sad to me that these are dividers, instead of uniters.

We don’t all have to agree, or do things the same way, but we should be uniting in the common bond of motherhood. In the knowledge that no matter who we are, what age we are, where we live, or what we choose to do, we are all trying to do the best for our children. And that’s fucking hard. Instead of tearing each other down, bullying each other, using our most precious resource – time – to belittle someone and make them feel like a failure, we should be reaching out with a supportive hand. A knowing comment of “I’ve been there, I got through it, and you will too.” Of all the things we should be spending our days worrying about, it most certainly shouldn’t be some mom giving us a dirty look in the grocery store because our toddler won’t stop screaming, or some woman on the internet that we’ve never even met in real life, being a bully.

So even though none of the nastiness was directed at me that day, I left my bump group, because I’m a mom. And not only do I support other moms, I also just don’t have time for the kind of hate that the moms who bully thrive off of. I’ve got a husband to cuddle with, a baby to love, and a household filled with piles of laundry to attend to.

Recently, I’ve been lucky enough to create my own mom group, with another woman from Canada – who in all likelihood I will probably never get the chance to meet in real life – but who I would consider my friend. She shares the same values of support and kindness, and we’re creating a really good community. But it’s taken some time to find “our” people, and to weed out the rest. It’s taken countless hours on the internet, responding to messages from other moms who were literally in tears over the way they were treated by others.

At the end of the day, we are raising the future generation. We should be less concerned about what other people think of us, and more concerned about what we’re teaching our children – and what they are going to learn from us by watching the way we behave.

Think seriously about it, ladies. Do we want to teach our precious, happy little babies to be bullies? Do we want to teach them that it’s okay to treat people poorly just because we don’t know them, don’t agree with them, because they’re different than us in some way, or because they’re on the other end of a keyboard from us? No. We have a responsibility to them. And some of the moms I’ve encountered recently are failing miserably because they’re too caught up in their own little world of high school popularity contests. It’s time to cut the crap. Go hug your baby, kiss your husband, do your laundry, get your nails done with a friend in real life.

You know the saying, “save the drama for your mama?” Well don’t. How about this one instead – if you’re a mama, cut the drama.

]]>http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/18/moms-who-bully/feed/2Wordless Wednesday – When We Were Younghttp://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/12/wordless-wednesday-when-we-were-young/
http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/12/wordless-wednesday-when-we-were-young/#commentsThu, 13 Aug 2015 00:37:08 +0000http://www.thehwl.com/?p=800Here I am, reminiscing about when we were young, on the eve of my 10 year high school reunion. It turns out the best part about the teenage years are the memories they leave you with when you're finally through with them!

]]>http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/12/wordless-wednesday-when-we-were-young/feed/2Sunday Songbird – Sweet Dreams, Little Manhttp://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/09/sunday-songbird-sweet-dreams-little-man/
http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/09/sunday-songbird-sweet-dreams-little-man/#respondSun, 09 Aug 2015 21:22:20 +0000http://www.thehwl.com/?p=782Sweet Dreams, Little Man - Once Jensen gets a little older, these songs will definitely be on my list of lullabies to sing to him - if I can make it through them without crying, that is! What are/were some of your favorite songs to sing to your little ones before bedtime?

Continuing on from last week, I have a few more “songs I can no longer listen to without crying,” to share with you. And be sure to stay tuned – there’s more coming at you next week. In addition, when I’m done with this series I’ll be compiling an entire playlist for you guys to enjoy on amazon and Spotify!

I had a hard enough time listening to these songs even BEFORE I got pregnant. But once I found out we were having a boy…*sniff*…well, now it’s virtually impossible. Leave it to the Dixie Chicks, I tell you. I could seriously barely keep it together long enough to write this post. No joke. It’s amazing, the things that happen to your heart once you have a baby.

Anyways…we don’t have much of a bedtime routine yet, since we’re still co-sleeping and Jensen usually passes out after a good nursing session. But once he gets older, these songs are definitely going on my list of lullabies to sing to him – if I can manage to do it without crying, that is.

What are/were some of your favorite songs to sing to your little ones before bedtime? Share them in the comments below!

“They didn’t have you where I come from, Never knew the best was yet to come, Life began when I saw your face, And I hear your laugh like a serenade,

To listen to or purchase any of the songs featured in today’s Sunday Songbird – or any Sunday Songbird of the past – Click here*

*This post contains Amazon Affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase using one of these links. Just another way to share my favorite items with you while supporting this bloggy habit!

]]>http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/09/sunday-songbird-sweet-dreams-little-man/feed/0Why Use Cloth Diapers? Here’s Why! – The Real Cost of Disposable Diapershttp://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/07/why-use-cloth-diapers/
http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/07/why-use-cloth-diapers/#respondSat, 08 Aug 2015 00:16:24 +0000http://www.thehwl.com/?p=735Wondering what all the hype is about cloth diapers lately? Thinking about whether you should jump on the bandwagon yourself? Check out these great reasons behind the cloth diapering movement, and see if it's the right decision for you and your family! And be sure to come back next week, when I'll give you the lowdown on EVERYTHING you need to know about the cloth diapering process.

Wondering what all the hype is about cloth diapers lately? Thinking about whether you should jump on the bandwagon yourself?

Check out these great reasons behind the cloth diapering movement, and see if it’s the right decision for you! And be sure to come back next week, when I’ll give you the lowdown on EVERYTHING you need to know about the cloth diapering process.

I’ll admit it, I’m a crunchy mama, and I’m not afraid to show it! So when I first got pregnant with Jensen, I was determined to find the most eco-friendly baby products I could, for every aspect of parenting. Some things were hard to track down – like eco-friendly swings and pack-n-plays. Some things were super straightforward – like eco-friendly baby bedding. It just so happens that my mom sells an amazing line of organic baby bedding called Delano Designs Baby on her Etsy shop, which you can find here. That was definitely the fun part, I got to pick out all of our fabrics and design the entire room myself! (I’ll share his nursery with you in a future post).

Then there were things that I was a little on the fence about. One of those things was cloth diapering. There were a lot of reasons I was skeptical. First of all, there’s the obvious question of whether or not I really wanted to deal with the poop any more than I had to. (It turns out that it’s really not any harder than using a disposable.) Then there was the question of laundry – did I really want to add to the already towering piles? Not really. But now I realize that if I didn’t HAVE to wash diapers every three days, I wouldn’t wash anything…ever. So in the end it actually became an incentive to have laundry days more often than I ever would have otherwise.

So I did my research (like I did with EVERYTHING – first time mom here…Research all the things!). And after doing a lot of reading I realized that I really couldn’t ignore the financial, health, and environmental impacts of disposable diapers. Oh, and did I mention that cloth diapers are CUTE, with a capital everything?? Because holy smokes – that was the superficial tipping point right there, I’m not afraid to admit! The first two weeks of Jensen’s life, when I was too busy recovering to tackle the stairs to our laundry room, I had some raging guilt every time I tossed a sposie in the trash. I couldn’t WAIT to break out that fluff stash I had accumulated!

So, what had I read that left me feeling so guilty about doing what millions of Americans do every day? And how did I come to the conclusion that cloth diapering was the more eco-friendly choice? I mean, really, WHY use cloth diapers, anyways?

Here is some great information on the benefits to cloth diapering to help you figure out if it’s the right choice for you and your family!

The Comfort Comparison:

Speaking from personal experience – disposables suck. After 6 weeks of postpartum bleeding, and wearing giant pads that felt like I may as well have been wearing a diaper, I was OVER IT. I even found myself reaching for my son’s diaper rash cream. Yes. It was THAT bad. I mean, seriously, who wants to be wearing plastic next to their skin when they could be wearing cloth, instead? I tell you what, underwear is soooo much better – and I have a feeling that even though they can’t tell us verbally, our newborns would agree.

Additionally, because cloth diapers don’t soak up the wetness in the same way disposables do, children can tell when they’re wet sooner. Instead of sitting in the urine while it slowly irritates their skin, they are more likely to inform a parent of their discomfort (by crying, or verbally as they get older) – which leads to fewer instances of diaper rash. In 1955, when cloth diapering was virtually the only option (Pampers weren’t introduced until 1961), the occurrence of diaper rash hovered around 7%. By 1991, approximately 90% of babies in the United States were in disposables, and the diaper rash rate increased to a whopping 78%.

Along with the lessened likelihood of diaper rash, knowing when you’re wet is a big advantage when it comes to potty training. In 1957 92% of children were potty trained by the age of 18 months. Today, the average age of potty training is between 36 and 42 months. And with the invention of single-use pull-ups, we often see 4 and 5 year olds who still aren’t completely toilet trained.

And comfort isn’t the only category in which cloth diapering wins against disposables. Check out some of the even more alarming statistics below.

At the low end of the spectrum, if you buy used off a b/s/t site or page, you can successfully buy a stash of cloth diapers for $100 all in. If you’re buying brand new, brand name diapers, and opting for organic cotton fabrics, you can easily spend much more than that. The average amount of money people invest in cloth diapering is usually around $300, so that’s going to be our go-to figure for this post.

So, let’s do the math – if you cloth diaper and factor in 8 diaper changes a day, every day, for 30 months (until they’re potty trained), that’s $300. If you have a second child, and reuse the diapers, that price goes down to $150 per child.

On the other hand, if you’re using disposable diapers, and you factor in a child going through 8 diapers a day, every day, for 30 months (until they’re potty trained), that adds up to approximately $1,800. $1,800 you are literally throwing straight into the trash! And that’s just for one child! If you have more than one, you’re going to spend that much times two, or even three.

No matter how you look at it, the act of cloth diapering is cheaper – and the investment becomes even less expensive the more children you have. Whereas using disposables is not only more expensive for one child, it becomes exponentially more-so the more children you have.

Did you know that disposable diapers contain Dioxin (considered the most toxic of all cancer causing materials – and banned by the majority of countries, outside of the United States)? What about Tributyl-tin – which is a toxic pollutant that is known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals? How about sodium polyacrylate – that super absorbent material that soaks up all the urine and becomes gel-like – which was banned from being used in tampons in the 1980s because it was linked to increased risk of TSS (toxic shock syndrome), by making a hospitable environment for the growth of toxic bacterium? The chemicals tolune, xylene, ethylbenzene, styrene, and isopropyl benzene are also present in disposable diapers – and are linked to infant respiratory distress and asthma.

Oh, and don’t forget that for baby boys, the increased scrotal temperature that is associated with wearing disposable diapers can lead to the stunting, or even total decimation of, the normal physiological mechanism that cools the scrotum – thereby permanently damaging their ability to produce normal, healthy sperm?

Once again it’s no surprise that diaper rash rates skyrocketed with the use of disposables. After reading the above list of chemicals, it’s easy to see how the most sensitive parts of your baby might break out in a rash when in constant contact with such materials.

These are just SOME of the health risks associated with disposable diapers. But it’s enough for me to think twice. By using disposables, we are exposing our infants to these harmful chemicals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the first 2+ years of their lives. All so that we can save ourselves a little bit of laundry time.

Approximately 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used every year in the United States alone – of those over 92% end up in a landfill – making them the 3rd largest single-use consumer item in landfills, and 50% of household waste. It is estimated that it will take 250-500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose, which means that a single diaper will outlast your child – even your great great great grandchild – by several generations.

Not only that, but each year over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce enough disposable diapers for ONE baby. And before you ask, “but what about all the water used to wash cloth diapers, doesn’t that even the score?” – let me just say that no, it doesn’t – because the manufacture and use of disposable diapers wastes 2.3 times more water than cloth.

Any way you look at it, the environmental impact of disposable diapers is a HUGE one, one we cannot afford to ignore. And one our pocket books can’t exactly afford to pay for, either.

Disposable diapers take a toll on our wallets, our health, and our environment, and yet we let them, because we just don’t want to deal with…poop. But let’s face it – we wipe our own butts daily, we pick up after our cats and our dogs, so why can’t we do it for our infants? For their health, for their happiness, and for their future planet! The minor inconvenience of ONE extra load of laundry every three days is nothing compared to the lifetime of inconveniences we are putting upon our children by exposing them to harsh cancer-causing chemicals, reduced reproductive abilities, hormonal disruption, a depletion of natural resources, and mountains of trash piles that won’t decompose for more than one lifetime.

For myself, and my family, the answer is simple. Why use cloth diapers? Because cloth diapers are SO worth it – and, dare I say it? – they even make diapering kind of fun! The patterns are cute, we have fewer blowouts, no battles with pesky diaper rash, and I imagine they’re much more comfortable for our little one…plus I know our wallet will thank us by the time the next baby rolls around and we have everything we need to keep that bum covered.

]]>http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/07/why-use-cloth-diapers/feed/0Wordless Wednesday – Ready for My Close-Up!http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/05/wordless-wednesday-ready-for-my-close-up/
http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/05/wordless-wednesday-ready-for-my-close-up/#commentsWed, 05 Aug 2015 22:19:07 +0000http://www.thehwl.com/?p=751Yes, since the new baby came, I'm obviously over here taking a million pictures of him daily - so get ready to be spammed with cuteness this Wordless Wednesday! Think you can handle it? Jensen's ready, are you?

]]>http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/05/wordless-wednesday-ready-for-my-close-up/feed/2Sunday Songbird – Beautiful Boyhttp://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/02/sunday-songbird-beautiful-boy/
http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/02/sunday-songbird-beautiful-boy/#commentsSun, 02 Aug 2015 22:27:09 +0000http://www.thehwl.com/?p=708Ever since I got pregnant, I have been unable to hear certain songs without getting emotional and tearing up. Then, when our son came, the list got even longer. To me, they sum up all the great and wonderful parts about being a mom, and a parent, and I think that's something that a lot of you can also relate to, so I hope you enjoy them!

Ever since becoming pregnant, I have been unable to hear certain songs without getting emotional and tearing up. Then, when our son came, the list got even longer. So for the next few Sunday Songbird posts, I’ve decided to share with you my playlist of songs I can no longer listen to without crying – nice, right?? But to me, they sum up all the great and wonderful parts about being a mom, and a parent, and I think that’s something that a lot of you can also relate to!

Today’s installments are two of the first songs we ever played for Jensen. “93 Million Miles” by Jason Mraz was our go-to when he was crying and we didn’t know what to do to make it better. I would pull it up on youtube and sing along quietly in his ear – it always worked, and he always stopped crying.

“Beautiful Boy” by John Lennon is a much beloved classic, all around the world. It was the first song we played for our son when he came home, because to us, he is perfect, and he will always be our beautiful boy.

Join the conversation – let me know what songs hit you right in the feels, in the comments below!

‘Oh, my my how beautiful, oh my beautiful mother,She told me, “Son, in life you’re gonna go far, and if you do it right you’ll love where you are –Just know, that wherever you go, you can always come home”

240 thousand miles from the moon, we’ve come a long way to belong here, to share this view of the night,a glorious night, over the horizon is another bright sky,Oh, my my how beautiful, oh my irrefutable father,He told me, “Son, sometimes it may seem dark, but the absence of the light is a necessary part.Just know, you’re never alone, you can always come back home…”‘93 Million Miles – Jason Mraz*

“I can hardly wait to see you to come of age,But I guess we’ll both just have to be patient,Yes it’s a long way to go,But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street take my hand,Life is just what happens to you,While your busy making other plans,

To listen to or purchase any of the songs featured in today’s Sunday Songbird – or any Sunday Songbird of the past –Click here*

*This post contains Amazon Affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase using one of these links. Just another way to share my favorite items with you while supporting this bloggy habit!

]]>http://www.thehwl.com/2015/08/02/sunday-songbird-beautiful-boy/feed/2Wordless Wednesday – Newborn Photography: Welcome Jensen Owen!http://www.thehwl.com/2015/07/29/wordless-wednesday-newborn-photography/
http://www.thehwl.com/2015/07/29/wordless-wednesday-newborn-photography/#respondWed, 29 Jul 2015 15:32:55 +0000http://www.thehwl.com/?p=661This Wordless Wednesday, I'm proud to introduce you to the newest member of our family - Welcome Jensen Owen!! Here's a sneak peek of our newborn photoshoot...It's hard to believe it has already been 3 months since these pictures were taken. My how time has flown!

RELATED ARTICLESThe Blogging Hiatus is Over – The HWL Returns!Thankful Thursday – A New AdditionWordless Wednesday – Meet the Family!

]]>http://www.thehwl.com/2015/07/29/wordless-wednesday-newborn-photography/feed/0The Blogging Hiatus is Over – The HWL Returns!http://www.thehwl.com/2015/07/27/blogging-hiatus-the-hwl-returns/
http://www.thehwl.com/2015/07/27/blogging-hiatus-the-hwl-returns/#commentsMon, 27 Jul 2015 22:17:34 +0000http://www.thehwl.com/?p=628Throughout my several years as a blogger, I’ve taken many a blogging hiatus. Mostly unintentional – life has a tendency

Throughout my several years as a blogger, I’ve taken many a blogging hiatus.

Mostly unintentional – life has a tendency of getting in the way of even our most purposeful goals. But nothing has done so quite so much as having a baby. (Even as I write this, he is screaming in my lap, kicking my arms away from the keyboard as if to say “I did NOT okay this!! – but needs must.)

First came the pregnancy. Which I was initially determined to power through with grace and dignity. That all quickly flew out the window as I soon found myself hunched over the toilet, vomiting, while simultaneously peeing my pants…and this wasn’t the only time I would find myself in that position. There is no dignity in pregnancy, as it turns out. I gave up on trying to look cute, (let’s face it, I gave up trying to do anything) and instead my efforts turned to trying to survive the “morning” sickness – which, by the way, is the biggest lie you’ve ever been told. Morning sickness?? HA. What a crock that is! Try 24 hours a day, for nine months, sickness.

As our due date crept slowly closer, I began to wonder why I was ever crazy enough to think I could be someone’s mother. If being sick for nine months straight didn’t kill me, surely labor would. And if, by some miracle, it didn’t, I could probably kiss my hopes of an intervention-free labor goodbye, as there was no way in hell I was going to have the energy to deliver a child after nine months of growing him. And after ALL of that – to have to take care of another living being, and to meet all of his needs, when I couldn’t even meet my own? Yeah right!

5 Months in and hating every minute

So, as you can understand, blogging fell by the wayside almost immediately.

The good news is, neither pregnancy, nor labor, got the best of me. And surprisingly enough, not only did I get exactly the birth experience I was hoping for (I’ll save that story for another post), the second our son was born I began to feel human again. In fact, it was a little as though the pregnancy and delivery had flipped a switch in my immune system, and it wasn’t just the morning sickness that disappeared – so did several of the other health issues I had been battling since before we even conceived. As it turns out, I had nothing to worry about – although being a mom has definitely had it’s challenging moments, I’m up to those challenges. And every moment, even the hard ones, has been worth it.

Myself, our new baby, our hilarious OB, and my husband, while our Doula looks on – right after delivery

But still – the blogging hiatus continued. I needed time – time to soak in every single second of the crazy new life I was living. Time to snuggle with this perfectly beautiful little boy I had sacrificed so much to grow, time to sniff in his glorious new baby smell, and most of all: time to readjust my life to a completely new routine, one that didn’t revolve around me any longer, but around this baby and all of his needs.

I’m not going to lie, I even considered never picking up the writing habit again. It’s silly, I know, because now that my mommy brain is settling, I realize that I still have so much to say. On different topics now, maybe, but that doesn’t change the fact that I yearn to communicate through words. Pen to paper. Keyboard to screen. Whatever form it may take, I feel like I have something to contribute to this world, and the only way I know how to do it is through writing.

So here I am, determined to get back at it again. Maybe not as regularly as I once hoped, maybe a little distracted by nursing sessions and diaper changes and laundry and naps – but still here, still writing.

Okay – I’ll admit it. Even though I’m generally against shopping on the so-called biggest shopping days of the year…I did. I caved and I gave into the amazing (online!) Black Friday sales, and added a few more items to my Maternity Capsule Wardrobe. I can’t wait until they get here!

But that’s what I love about the idea of a Capsule Wardrobe; It doesn’t take long to stock up on items, and once you know what you have and love, it’s super easy to fill in the gaps with a few basics here and there to match. Plus, when you know what you NEED and aren’t just idly browsing for items, you’re more likely to pick up something that you’ll adore, at a good price, and that will last you – instead of a random piece that will get donated with the next round of closet clean-outs.

New here? Click This Link to find out how to build your own Maternity Capsule Wardrobe!

I’ll be sure to update you all with a new shot of my stash when everything arrives in a week or so. Luckily, while I wait, I’m still not bored with mixing and matching the items I already have. I’m even finding it kind of fun to finally be big enough to really look pregnant even in maternity clothes! (…Famous Last Words).

But for those of you moms-to-be out there, who aren’t enjoying Maternity clothes, and are wondering how in the heck you can still look cute while wearing them, be sure to check out today’s inspiration pieces and click the links below to find out where you can purchase them yourself!

I wore this outfit grocery shopping this afternoon, and got complimented by a man in drag who liked my long skirt. So, you know, if that doesn’t scream “I’m super stylish!” I don’t know what does!

The Reason I Love These Items:

The Tank Top – I can’t get enough of this tank top. I actually got it second-hand from a FB Maternity Clothes Swap Group, and I love it for so many reasons. For one, it’s white, so it goes with EVERYTHING I bought, and it’s thin enough to layer, so I can add it underneath things for some extra warmth. It’s also super stretchy and supportive all at the same time, so it fits perfectly no matter what shape I morph into! Honestly, I probably need to invest in another one of these, because this one is gross and I need to wash it, but who has time when you can wear it constantly instead?

The Skirt – This skirt is one of my favorite pieces – it’s flowy, stretchy, and super comfortable, while still being somewhat dressy. I can feel free and unrestricted while still looking cute, no annoying elastic feeling around my belly. It’s also a maxi, which means I can wear it all winter long with a pair of boots and some tights, but it’s light enough to transition into spring with, which is nice because we’re not due until April! Oh, and it actually fits me and doesn’t make me feel like a total midget, which is nearly impossible for a maxi-lengthed skirt or dress to do to us short folks. I have a couple of other skirts like this one that I got at American Eagle (so they’re not technically maternity obviously, but they still work), and I have a feeling I’m going to LIVE in them in a few more months.

The Sweater – It’s a pretty basic sweater – there’s not a whole lot to add to the description on this one, except for that the cardigan style adds a little bit more class to the whole occasion, in my opinion. Plus I love a good jewel toned turquoise for adding a pop of color to an outfit.

The Boots – Suede boots should be a staple, I think, in anyone’s wardrobe. I ADORE these boots because they’re flats so I can wear them without killing my feet and my back, and they’re super warm and really cute (not that you can tell in these pictures, you’ll just have to take my word for it!).

At 19+5 weeks, we’re almost halfway through, I can’t tell you how lovely it is to finally have clothes I feel comfortable in, and am not busting out of. I know a lot of people who resist maternity clothes their entire pregnancy, and I have to say – I think that’s crazy!

Just because you’re buying in the maternity section now, doesn’t mean you have to give in to the frump. It’s still totally possible to keep your style and find ways to make it stretch with you – WITHOUT stretching out the clothes you already own and love, or your budget. The key to successfully building your Maternity Capsule Wardrobe is really just to find the items that speak to you! I promise there’s something out there for everyone.

Looking for even more ideas? Be sure to Stay Tuned for more even more Inspiration Pieces every Maternity Monday!

What are some staples in your Maternity Wardrobe? Are there any “must-haves” I should include in my Maternity Capsule Wardrobe? Where are your favorite places to shop for maternity pieces?

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